Moments Between Mysteries and Mayhem
by ANGSWIN
Summary: Part 10 of my "Sherlock's Rose" series...Moments, missing scenes, short stories, and snippets from my "Sherlock's Rose" universe...Stories are posted in no particular order and new ones will be added periodically...This collection will always appear last in the order of the entire series so that no spoilers will occur for later additions to the series...*Roselock*
1. The Mycroft Connection Moment

**The Mycroft Connection Moment**

* * *

Sherlock wants to know exactly how Rose knows Mycroft.

This story takes place immediately after "Crisis Averted" (Part 7 of my Sherlock's Rose" series).

* * *

"Tell me how you know my brother. You two seemed quite friendly today."

Rose looked up at Sherlock. They were in his bed, her head was on his chest, and both of his arms were draped around her. They were both recovering from the high they had experienced after rushing back to Baker Street and tumbling into bed to eagerly finish what they had started this morning before heading to Mycroft's office. At his words, though, she looked up at him. From this angle, she could see the insecurity in his eyes and the uncertain set of his jaw. Therefore, she knew that, even though what he had just said had come out sounding blunt and forceful, it was really anything but. At any rate, she had been expecting this question, but not really at this moment. However, she certainly knew that tact and timing weren't really Sherlock's forte, either. Therefore, she just rolled with it and hoped that her answer would set his mind at ease.

"Torchwood, mainly," she replied, answering his question honestly. There was absolutely no reason not to do so. "The usual…business meetings, charity balls, etc…"

Sherlock considered her answer for a moment and then he asked, "Does he know the truth or did he get the same version of the story that John did?"

"Your brother is an amazingly intelligent and powerful man, Sherlock," Rose stated truthfully, "and _officially_ he certainly knows more than John does about Torchwood. However, I really don't think that he has the necessary imagination to _really_ accept what we do. Therefore, as far as I know, he doesn't _believe_ in aliens and he probably never will unless he sees it with his own eyes – even then I have my doubts. I have often thought about introducing him to a "visitor," but I don't really know if his psyche can handle it! I don't want to be responsible for what would happen if his view of the world was shattered like that. He certainly is not as _flexible_ in his thinking as you are, Sherlock!"

Sherlock pondered this thought for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. That certainly did sound like his brother. Then another question occurred to him. "Have you really danced with him?" he asked with a touch of disbelief.

"Oh, yes! Several times – he's quite good at it, actually!" Rose said it lightheartedly, but noticed another flash of that insecurity that years of dealing with his brother had apparently instilled in him. Therefore, she leaned even closer to him and whispered huskily, "As much as I like your brother, though, it is not really _his_ moves or flexibility that I want to see right now."

Sherlock growled his appreciation at her suggestion and then immediately proceeded to take her up on the offer. All thoughts of his older brother were then forgotten for the time being.


	2. The Not-So-Girly Talk Moment

**A Not-So-Girly Talk Moment**

* * *

Rose meets Mary. Suspicions ensue.

This story takes place soon after the events in "Crisis Averted."

* * *

Ever since John had told her about the night he met the very impressive, and apparently kickass, Rose, Mary had been very curious about her. It was not hard to wonder about what kind of woman could catch and, more impressively, keep the attention of a man like Sherlock (and even Mycroft, as well, if John's suspicions about the feelings of the elder Holmes brother were correct). Therefore, she badgered John until he convinced Sherlock to bring Rose over for dinner one night. In planning for the evening, however, she never considered that the woman in whom she was so interested would turn the tables on her!

Upon their arrival at the Watson's home, Rose greeted John enthusiastically with a kiss on the cheek as he opened the door. Then her attention was taken by his very pregnant wife. Her first thought was that Mary moved very gracefully to be as large as she was. Rose couldn't help but think back to when her Mum was pregnant with Tony and how much trouble she had and how much discomfort that she had been in with moving around at this stage – much like the clichéd "bull in a china shop." In comparison, Mary moved with grace and finesse like a ballerina… or a skilled fighter… or some nonhuman species of which she knew, Rose thought and then shook her head. She hoped that she was looking for something that just wasn't there. The fact that some people just responded better to pregnancy than others would be a much more logical conclusion than the idea that Nurse Mary was hiding a secret identity.

She couldn't help but to watch the woman, though – even while they were chatting pleasantly through dinner and teasing the men about a recent case. Mary was very polite, very friendly, and Rose found that she liked her a lot, but something just wasn't _right_. Rose couldn't put her finger on what it was though, and it was driving her crazy. She knew that Sherlock would know…with his abilities he would have dug up the woman's secrets long before she married his best friend, hopefully. However, her detective boyfriend wasn't giving anything away. In fact, he met her eye calmly, and gave no reaction to her unvoiced question other than a raised eyebrow and a quick smug smirk. _Git!_ she thought with an equal mix of irritation and affection.

Things came to a head, however, when Rose offered to help Mary do the dishes while the men went out to the bakery down the street to procure something for pudding. Apparently, John had forgotten to pick up something on his way home for work, even though Mary had reminded him several times to do so. "Men!" Mary had said in exasperation, albeit with a fond look at her husband, and Rose had smiled in response. She was dating Sherlock, after all. She certainly knew all about exasperation!

After they went into the kitchen, Rose asked politely, "Is it okay if I wash while you dry, since you know where everything goes?" Mary nodded in agreement . She liked Rose, she seemed fascinating, and it was obvious to anyone who knew him that Sherlock was quite taken with her. However, there was something about the way that the younger woman kept looking at her. _Does she suspect?_ Mary thought. John had said that she worked with an international defense (or something similar) company. _Is she trained to identify…people like me?_ she wondered.

Her internal musings were interrupted when she heard Rose swear loudly and saw the large wet platter slip from her fingers and zoom towards the floor. Mary, disregarding the size of her belly, let her lightning-quick physical instincts and training take over, dove for the platter, scooped it up – unharmed- right before it hit the floor, and spun around swiftly still on bent knee. _Damn!_ _I just gave myself away!_ she thought , as she realized what she had done. Then, she straightened back up and met Rose's searching gaze.

"Nice catch!" Rose said thoughtfully.

"Thank you" murmured Mary at a loss for something else to say, trying to assess the situation and figure out what kind of nonlethal damage control was necessary. Rose seemed way too perceptive for her liking. Therefore, she was surprised by the woman's next words. They certainly weren't what she was expecting.

"Sherlock likes you." Rose said with confidence.

"Yes…and?" Mary asked, a little confused about where she was going with this.

"Sherlock doesn't like normal people." Rose mentioned in a matter-of-fact way.

"Well, he likes _you_." Mary countered.

"Exactly and I am _far_ from normal!" Here she paused, smiled quickly, made a quick decision, and then continued. "Therefore, I can't help but wonder what it is about you… Don't get me wrong. I like you! I really do! However, I can tell that you are hiding something, something big. Secrets aren't always a bad thing, though. Trust me, I _know_! Therefore, I have to ask you just one thing."

Mary didn't say anything, but she surreptitiously eyed the knife on a nearby dinner plate (just in case) and waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Does Sherlock know?"

Mary looked Rose directly in the eye, a bit surprised at the question. However, she felt no malice coming from the woman - just intelligent curiosity. Her normally keen instincts didn't judge Rose as a current threat. Therefore, she came to a decision, as well.

"Yes," she said and nodded boldly.

"Does John?" Rose asked and received another nod in return. "Do they trust you?" she continued.

Mary smiled softly in response to this question before answering. "They do now."

The other woman gave a wide genuine smile in return. "Good! I guess that is all that I need to know." She turned back to the sink and the two women continued their chore in silence for a few minutes.

Finally, Mary's curiosity got the most of her and she asked Rose, "What about you?"

"Yes… Sherlock knows everything and trusts me completely. However, John doesn't know the entire story, yet. He is not quite ready for the whole truth. I hope that he will be one day, though."

Mary thought about her husband and gave a nod of understanding. She could see where Rose was coming from with that assessment. Oddly enough, Sherlock could be more open-minded than John, sometimes. Her own case was a good example of that.

The two women realized that they had said a great deal without actually saying anything. Thus, a friendship was born! Rose smiled at Mary mischievously and said, "You know…on our first date, I asked Sherlock what his favorite fighting style was."

Mary grinned. "You are my kind of girl, Rose! Such a romantic! What did he say?"

"Bartitsu - It's some kind of obsolete, gentlemen's version of MMA. Apparently, you use a stick for it, too!"

The two women caught each other's eyes and both of them snickered in amusement.

"Yours?" asked Mary after a brief pause.

"Aikido," answered Rose. "You?"

"Judo"

"Nice!" Rose gave a nod of appreciation.

"I know!"agreed Mary with enthusiasm. "Sparring session after the Little Watson comes?"

"Definitely – it's a date!"

Then they smiled understandingly at each other as the men reentered the room, both carrying a bakery box.

John was oblivious, but Sherlock looked between the two women and allowed another smug smile to grace his face. He had known that these two would figure it out for themselves and become the best of friends.


	3. A Moment With Mickey

**A Moment With Mickey**

* * *

Mickey finds out about Sherlock. He confronts Rose about the situation.

This is a missing scene from the very end of "A Nice Place to Start"

* * *

"So, when were you going to tell me that you are dating Sherlock _bloody_ Holmes?" demanded Mickey after he stormed into Rose's office without knocking.

"Wha…what?" asked a very confused Rose looking up from her computer screen. "Oh! Hey, Mick! What are you doing here on a Saturday morning?"

Mickey ignored her. "Sherlock Holmes… he's your mystery bloke? Martha bet me a tenner that you had one, you know! How did that even happen? And more importantly…why didn't you tell _me,_ Babe? I'm your oldest friend!" He fussed all the way across the office and then crashed into the chair in front of her desk.

"Mickey," she said soothingly. "Don't be like that. As for Sherlock, we are not _really_ dating…not yet… we just…"

"Is that so? Because I just ran into Jake and Jamie downstairs and they were telling me about the Slathling incident from last night and that you went off to have dinner with Sherlock Holmes at his place, afterwards!"

"Yes, but they didn't know that John was meeting us there with the food," she argued – as if that made any difference.

"John…John Watson? As in Dr. Watson?" Mickey asked, incredulously.

"Yes, he's a really nice guy. He iced my hand for me after I sprained it slugging that Slathling. See?" She held up the hand that Donna had rewrapped for her and waved it around slightly.

"So _he_ is really a Doctor?" he asked, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yep," she replied, ignoring his reference. "He is just as much of one as Martha is. He has a surgery, patients, and everything. His wife is a nurse, too."

"Wow! Just to clarify, though, we are talking about _**the**_ Sherlock Holmes, the detective, and his partner, Dr. Watson… right?"

"Of course! How many other Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson combos do you know about?"

"And what about the flat? Is it really at Baker Street?"

"Yes, it is -221B – just like the stories."

"That is just so _weird_ , Babe!"

"Tell me about it!"

Mickey sat in silence for a moment, just thinking. "Does he have…you know… the hat?"

"I haven't seen one, Mick. I'm glad, too, because he has the most gorgeous hair!"

"That's what Jake said," Mickey replied with a smirk. "He might have been drooling a little bit about some other gorgeous body parts, too." He shook his head with disbelief but then continued, "Anything else that I should know about?"

"Mick, I have only seen him a few times – three, to be exact."

"Rose, I know you. You don't date casually. Do you like this bloke or not?"

Rose sighed heavily and put her head down on her arms. "I have already had this conversation with Donna this morning," she muttered.

"What?" Mickey exclaimed. "Donna knows?"

Rose picked her head up again. "As of this morning - yes. She came in early with Lee and caught me sneaking in."

"Why were you sneaking in?... Bloody hell! Are you wearing his shirt?" he asked, incredulously.

"Yes, I spent the night there and I needed something to wear this morning, so I stole his shirt."

"Rose…" Mickey said in a warning tone.

"Mick, I'm an adult, and I can obviously handle myself. I took down a Slathling last night – completely on my own, I might add. I don't need you to protect me." She shot that warning tone right back at him.

"I'm not worried about you getting hurt physically, Rose, you know that," he tried to explain. The last thing that he wanted to do was get into a fight with her about this.

"I know," she sighed again. "You don't have to worry about me, though. It was late, we slept in separate rooms, and I left before he got up this morning. I left him a note. He texted me. We are going out to dinner tomorrow night. Is there anything else that you want to know, Father?"

"Ha! Ha! Very funny, Rose," he snarked. Then he paused before asking, "What have you told them?"

"Sherlock knows about Torchwood, but John doesn't. I met John for the first time last night, but Sherlock was there at the morgue a couple of weeks ago when Molly called me in about the Slitheen wannabe."

"I guess he took it well since he still remembers and he was with you again with the Slathling last night. Have you told him anything else? Does he know about…?"

"Us, the Doctor, time travel, the other universe, the fact that he is also a famous fictional character? No, not yet, Mick. Like I said, I haven't known him long enough to share everything with him. Three meetings, three meals, four kisses, two aliens, a few texts …that's all we have had."

" _Four_ kisses?" he asked speculatively.

"Shut up, Mick!"

"Rose, I just have one more question."

"What is it?" she asked warily.

"Can I meet him?"

"No!"

"But, Babe, this is _Sherlock Holmes_ we are talking about!"

"I am well aware of that, Mick! However, Sherlock is not known for being a social person – quite the opposite, in fact. He's a lot like our first Doctor in that way. He doesn't do small talk and he's not the kind of guy to go out to the pub or to come over for game night. I don't know that he ever will be. It's actually taken him until this morning, almost three weeks after we met, to even contact me first – and that was with a one word text. If he is not comfortable with _me_ , yet, then there is no way that he is going to be comfortable with my friends."

"Well, what about Molly? Jake? And Jamie?

"He knew Molly first, before I even met her. As for Jake and Jamie, he met them through investigations. Investigations are his thing, Mick. They are not contrived or forced social situations. Please just trust me that something like that just wouldn't go over well with him at this time. I don't want to scare him off with too much too soon."

"It's a start, though. Right, Babe?"

"Yes, but it is _just_ a start – for us. Give us some time, Mick, please. I would like to give this a real shot. If it goes somewhere, then I promise that I will find a way to introduce the two of you."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Rose! And I am rooting for you, you know. It sounds like you really like this guy, anyway."

"I really do, Mick."

"I still can't believe it is Sherlock _freaking_ Holmes, though! You just can't ever date a normal guy, can you?"

At that, Rose stuck her tongue out at him and went back to typing on her computer.

"Well, I can tell when I'm not wanted!" he said facetiously, as he stood up to go. He stopped in the doorframe, though, and turned to face her. "You know I love you, Rose!" he said.

"I love you, too, you big oaf!" she said with feeling as she smiled at her best friend, content in the knowledge that he still had her back in this universe – just like he did in the last one!


	4. A Moment with DS Donovan

**A Moment with DS Donovan**

* * *

This is the story of how Rose Tyler and Sally Donovan first met.

It is referenced in "An Evening with Scotland Yard" (Part 9 of the "Sherlock's Rose" series).

* * *

It was the morning after their first Scotland Yard case together. Sherlock and Rose were at the Baker Street flat having coffee together on the sofa when he asked her to tell him about how she met DS Donovan. He was quite interested in why they called each other "Sal" and "Rhodes" instead of their given names. She grinned, made herself comfortable by propping her feet up in his lap, and settled in to tell her story...

"After she came to this universe and found herself married to a millionaire, my mum did something very unexpected. Instead of lounging around enjoying her newfound wealth, she donned a business suit and went to work with her husband at Vitex. She was determined to make something of herself in this new life, since she was practically just languishing away, undereducated and underemployed, on the Estate back on the other side. She turned out to be a fast study and, after she had proved herself, Pete was happy to leave the company in her hands while he focused on Torchwood with me. Mum loved her new position so much that even after Tony was born, she just took him with her and he played happily on a blanket in her office while she worked.

Anyway, Cecelia Donovan, Sal's mother, is Mum's personal secretary over at Vitex - so they work together. I say _work_ , but I am convinced that they just sit around and gossip all day. At least that is all I ever see when I visit. To be fair, though, I really don't go over there that often. I try to stay away from Vitex as much as possible because Mum is always on my case about my preference for working with Pete over at Torchwood. She would love for me to give it all up and come work for her in a safe little corner office. I always tell her to save it for Tony because he is growing up at Vitex and loves it there. She knows that I plan to take over for Pete when he retires – simply because I can't bear the thought of anyone else being in charge of Torchwood. However, she holds on to the irrational hope that I will change my mind one day, and so she continues to harp on it.

At any rate, apparently one of Mum and Cecelia's favorite topics of discussion at _work_ was the fact that both of their daughters remain stubbornly single. For some reason, about two years ago, they decided that we really must not be interested in men at all. Therefore, they assumed that we were probably closet lesbians – so closeted, in fact, that we didn't even realize it ourselves." Here Rose paused as Sherlock snorted back a laugh. She laughed, too, and leaned forward to kiss him. "Yes, you and I both know that the idea is absolutely ridiculous. However, apparently the more that they talked about it, the more that they convinced each other that it was the truth. Then, one of them came up with the brilliant idea that they should set Sal and me up – with each other! They were quite sneaky about it, as well, because they knew that we would refuse if we knew the truth. Therefore, I was told that my date would be DS Sal Donovan of Scotland Yard and she was told that I was Agent Rhodes Tyler of the Torchwood Institute. Our mums just assumed that once we got over the initial shock of being there with another girl and actually started talking, then we would hit it off, realize that we were made for each other, and end up having hot passionate girl-on-girl sex before the night was over." Rose had to pause here when she realized that Sherlock's eyes had glazed over a little bit at that description. In fact, she had to smack him on the back of the head to get him to refocus. _Not like other men, my arse!_ she thought to herself sarcastically as she continued.

"Anyway, I usually have nothing to do with dates set up by my mother. She has tried it before with invariably disastrous results. Therefore, at first, I completely refused on principle. However, she promised that she would not harass me about Vitex for an entire month if I would just go on this one date for her! Now, I know a good deal when I hear one, so I bargained with her and actually got the price up to three Vitex-free months before I agreed. To be honest, spending a couple of hours with a young detective from Scotland Yard didn't sound like that big of a deal, though. Hopefully, we would even have something in common, due to our _similar_ lines of work. Also, I had been looking for a contact within the Yard for some time. At the very least, I hoped that this date could help with that. At any rate, it had to be better than the last date she had arranged for me - with one of the Vitex accountants!" Here she stopped her narrative for a moment and shuddered at the memory before continuing.

"Our date was scheduled for the next night, so neither one of us had any time to research the other and uncover our mothers' diabolical plan. Cecelia made the dinner reservations for us, so all we had to do was meet at the restaurant. I was a few minutes late, so I just asked for _DS Donovan_ when I arrived. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised to be shown to a table where another woman was already sitting. I immediately guessed what had happened, but I didn't want to appear rude – just in case the she was okay with the idea of dating a woman. However, judging by the shocked look on her face, I could tell that she had been steamrolled by our meddling mothers, as well."

* * *

 **The Blind Date - Two years earlier:**

"Sal?" Rose asked uncertainly as she reached the table, unsure if that was even the young woman's name.

"It's Sally, actually. I'm guessing that your name really isn't Rhodes either, is it?"

"Rose," she replied, shaking her head and plopping into her seat. "I'm going to kill my mother!"

"You know, it probably isn't a good idea to announce your murder plans to a member of Scotland Yard," she answered with a wry smile that Rose immediately liked. "Unless you allow me to help, that is! I'm pretty sure that we can get away with it – especially since I know all of the tricks by now!"

With that they shared a laugh, a bottle of wine, and a fine meal. They also had a great time planning many embarrassing punishments for their mothers, which became increasingly elaborate and bloodthirsty as they made their way through the first bottle and then ordered another one. In the end, they basically poured each other into a cab and spent the night together at Sally's flat. However, instead of the passionate sex that their mothers were apparently expecting, there was mainly just a lot of drunken snoring. After they woke up, Rose shared her favorite alien-inspired hangover solution with Sally and their friendship was firmly sealed!

Afterwards, they decided – after much deliberation - to let their mothers live. The women had given birth to them, after all. Instead they made plans to meet for dinner again later on in the week and then separated to go and visit their respective parents. Both mothers were ecstatic when they found out that Rose and Sally had spent the night together. However, that happiness turned into bitter disappointment when they were gleefully told the entire truth. However, after Rose blackmailed her mother by threatening to tell Pete about her old boyfriends on the other side, Jackie finally agreed to leave Rose's love life, or lack thereof, alone. Sally reminded Cecelia of her knowledge of several hidden credit cards that her dad didn't know about and Cecelia agreed to lay off of matchmaking, as well. However, both Rose and Sally were pleased that they did gain a girlfriend out of the ordeal, just not the kind that their mothers were expecting. Eventually, as they got to know and trust each other, Rose gained a Scotland Yard contact for Torchwood, as well.

* * *

When she had finished her story, Sherlock smirked. "Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I'm very glad that you realized that _you_ weren't a lesbian and didn't need a _girl_ friend," he told her in a serious tone, but with a twinkle in his eye – which he kept even after Rose hit him with one of the sofa pillows, "especially since I find that I quite enjoy being your _boy_ friend!"

Rose gave him a sweet smile. "I'm so glad to hear you say that – especially since Mum wants for my _boy_ friend to come over for dinner on Sunday! She was thrilled when I started seeing someone seriously, and now she thinks that it is about time that my family meets him!" She then grinned broadly at the look of horror that crossed his face at the very idea.


End file.
